Marriyum Aurangzeb refutes rumours about meeting of ruling alliance

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb on Tuesday said all parties to the ruling alliance were “united” and there was no truth in the false reports about its meeting which was underway.

“Speculations being made in some section of the media about the meeting of ruling parties are baseless and incorrect,” she said in a news statement.

The minister regretted that the media started airing news regarding the meeting by attributing to leaders of allied parties even prior to the issuance of final communiqué.

Marriyum Aurangzeb said decisions were being taken with the input of all the parties which were united, the state news agency reported.

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“Consultation is underway and the information minister would issue a joint communiqué [of the meeting],” she added.

Earlier, it was learnt that the meeting of the ruling coalition remained undecided on holding talks with Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led opposition amid a deepening political and judicial crisis.

Sources told ARY News that the coalition parties failed to agree on holding talks with PTI Chairman Imran Khan despite the insistence of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto.

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During the meeting, the majority of political forces – including Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), Balochistan National Party (BNP), Khalid Magsi, Mohsin Dawar and others – voiced their support for Bilawal Bhutto’s stance.

However, sources claimed, Jamat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI-F) opposed the PPP’s stance of holding negotiations. “Imran Khan is not a political force,” sources said while quoting JUI-F, while JWP’s Shahzain Bugti said that his party did not oppose talks but “Imran is a liar”.

Speaking on the occasion, Bilawal Bhutto said that not holding negotiations was ‘undemocratic and unpolitical behaviour’, adding that his party never closes the door of dialogue.

“It is the need of the hour that the path of dialogue be adopted and the country taken out of the crisis,” Bilawal said.

Meanwhile, the majority of participants rejected conditional talks with Imran Khan, saying that negotiations can be held on elections but not on cases registered against the former premier.

Sources claimed that the meeting ended without reaching a consensus on the matter of holding dialogue.